All items listed and reviewed are available for purchase directly from Brickbat Books, although quantities are limited. Brickbat Books is located at 709 South Fourth Street, in the heart of Fabric Row, in Philadelphia.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Area CErik Carlson is a composer, media artist and architect based in Providence, RI. His work examines sound as an evocative presence, often acting as a marker, in the physical and mental spaces we inhabit. Since 2002 he has been recording and performing under the name AREA C, whose compositions work with timbre, texture and live loops, exploring cyclical relationships and the details of their decay over time. Improvisation plays an important part in both recordings and live performances, encompassing extended explorations of minimal rhythm and melody, drawing on remnants of other times and places, outdated and untested technologies, signals sent out but never received -areacmusic.com

mem1Mem1 are an electroacoustic hybrid that seamlessly blend the sounds of cello and electronics to create an original and cohesive performance, focusing on a constant yet subtle evolution of textures ranging from sparse to dense, ambient to rhythmic, tranquil to volatile. Rather than a duet between two individuals, listeners experience a single voice, exploring a limitless palette of sonic possibilities, submerging the listener in layers of distinctive and complex patterns, creating an aural experience which moves beyond melody, lyricism, and traditional structural confines to arrive at a new sense of organically-revealed narrative. -Forced Exposure

SynopsisCity of Photos explores the little known ethos of neighborhood photo studios in Indian cities, discovering entire imaginary worlds in the smallest of spaces. Tiny, shabby studios that appear to be stuck in a time warp turn out to be places throbbing with energy. As full of surprises as the people who frequent these studios are the backdrops they enjoy posing against and the props they choose. These afford fascinating glimpses into individual fantasies and popular tastes. Yet beneath the fun and games runs an undercurrent of foreboding. Not everyone enjoys being photographed; not every backdrop is beautiful; not all photos are taken on happy occasions. The cities in which these stories unfold themselves become backdrops, their gritty urban reality a counterpoint to the photo palaces. Desires, memories and stories, all so deeply linked to the photographic experience, come together as part of a personal journey into the city of photos.

Reviews“Brilliantly insightful, poignant, and powerful. Nishtha has demonstrated how much more one can do with film than perhaps any other media. I loved the scrutiny of individual images, the juxtapositions, and was especially struck by her evidently fantastic interpersonal skills.”- Chris Pinney, author of Camera Indica

"The jury selects for a special commendation, City of Photos by Nishtha Jain from India for making a multi-layered film, for its skillful attention to form and for making a highly reflective film about the nature of representation itself."- Award citation, Film South Asia, Kathmandu

“City of Photos captures in a smart way much of the flavour and character I know of India and is a modern meditation on image-making, family, memory, rituals.”- Peter Wintonick, Filmmaker

“City of Photos is a layered and complex journey into the neighbourhood studio... accompanied by a lyrical narrative...A play between what seem like opposites — order and chaos, past and present, or reality and fantasy — runs through the film.”- Bageshree S, The Hindu

"The film is lyrical, thoughtful and thought-provoking. There is a synergy here between the visuals, the commentary and the suggestive sound track that is rare in documentary. Jain manages the irony of using the moving image to capture the image that is already still with equanimity and a certain grace, treating the viewer almost as a photographic plate upon which her impressions are recorded."- Arshia Sattar, Openspace

"Jain's tribute to these still images in motion picture, an irony she consciously emphasizes, is enhanced by humour, nostalgia, and surrealism... It is in its ambiguity and subtlety that the film triumphs... Instead of dishing out a presumptuous treatise on photography, Jain simply captures what fascinates her personally and presents it in a manner that we might be able to see bits of our own selves in it...Strong tensions between the pleasurable and disturbing pervade the film as they do our lives and aesthetic orders and by allowing them their space and expression, the filmmaker celebrates all three."-Pragya Tiwari, Mumbai Mirror

Awards•Special Jury Commendation at Film South Asia, Kathmandu, 2005•Voted #7 and shown in the IDFA Top 20 in 2007, a section comprising audience favourites from the more than 900 films screened at IDFA in its 20-year history.

Monday, April 20, 2009

The Lord Dog BirdThe Lord Dog Bird is the solo recording project of Colin McCann, guitarist for Jagjaguwar artists, Wilderness. While the band was on extended hiatus, McCann kept at it, documenting his feelings about life and music at home on his four track. The result is a gritty, tactile document of a time spent in self-exploration and flux. Through droning repetition and the unmistakable hiss and clip of four track cassette, a warm and engrossing atmosphere develops. These songs are buoyed by melodies that are at once sad and hopeful. The listener is immediately drawn in by their intimacy and honesty, with vocals imparting a sincerity and intensity that often borders on vulnerability. While The Lord Dog Bird draws it's influences from a distinct set of predecessors, music itself seems to be it's main inspiration; a human attempt at honoring beauty; a music to help bring about healing and to celebrate change. -Jagjaguwar

Micah Blue SmaldoneMicah sources his vaudeville blues in a tradition that predates even the American mystery schools favoured by Jack Rose, crossing early folk forms with ragtime and minstrel stylings and a macabre showtune aspect which brings to mind the work of Dame Darcy, Tiny Tim and Josephine Foster. -Volcanic Tongue

Exhibition catalogue published on the occasion of German artist Albert Oehlen's second solo exhibition at Thomas Dane Gallery, London. Continuing Oehlen's interest in posters, this catalogue contains loose, unbound images of 10 paintings from the exhibition, all contained within a larger fold-out poster designed by the artist. Included is a text of the conversation held between Albert Oehlen and British artist, Nigel Cooke.